Kim Rahn is the managing editor of The Korea Times. Since joining the company in 2003, she has covered various beats including the presidential office, Seoul city government, the Bank of Korea and the tourism industry. In 2014, she won the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) award for her coverage of the ordeals of migrant women in Korea.
Simulation for docking capacity in naval base to undergo reviews
By Kim Rahn
The government and Jeju Province have agreed to review the former’s simulation analysis on the docking capacity of the naval base being built there, following the latter’s claim the simulation lacked objectivity.
But they fell short of reaching an agreement on whether the Navy will stop the construction of the base until the inspection is finished.
According to Jeju Special Self-Governing Province Friday the two sides agreed that experts recommended by Jeju and the National Assembly will review the simulation result on whether two 150,000-ton cruise ships can dock at the same time at the joint military and commercial port.
Jeju has claimed the simulation was based on false data and the docking of two ships would be impossible, while the government conducted a second simulation between last December and February and has said there were no flaws in its analysis.
With construction pushing ahead, Jeju said it would issue an administrative order to stop it.
“The government had previously said it would only disclose simulation results but said it could disclose the analysis process, too. We think our experts will be able to review enough with the materials,” Jeju Administrative Vice Governor Kim Hyeong-seon said in a briefing.
Participants of the review will be experts recommended by Jeju, members of the provincial council, Jeju officials, as well as a resident of Gangjeong, the village where the base will be located.
From the government side, experts and defense ministry officials who took part in the second simulation will explain their analysis to their Jeju counterparts.
The review team will inspect the simulation report, how the simulation was conducted, and operation examples of a 150,000-ton cruise ship. They will meet three times on March 29, 30 and April 6.
But opponents to the base construction criticized Jeju for going back on its previous stance to conduct the simulation anew. They doubt the effectiveness of the review on the Navy-made analysis.
Moreover, the two didn’t clearly reach an agreement on whether to stop construction until the review is made. Kim just said the Navy may cooperate, saying, “Navy officials visited Jeju and said they would consider win-win measures and communicate with us more.”